Devastating floods in sumatra may have wiped out critical population of world’s rarest great ape

The discovery of a dead Tapanuli orangutan buried in mud and debris in northern Sumatra has raised alarming concerns that recent catastrophic flooding may have devastated a key population of the world’s rarest great ape. Scientists are calling the disaster an “extinction-level disturbance” for the critically endangered species, of which fewer than 800 individuals remain in the wild.

Humanitarian workers found the orangutan’s body on December 3, a week after powerful cyclone-driven storms unleashed destructive floods and landslides across Sumatra. The carcass showed severe damage consistent with being swept away by the rushing debris, according to Panut Hadisiswoyo, founder of the Orangutan Information Centre. The landslide struck the western portion of the Batang Toru ecosystem, a crucial 124,000-148,000 acre biodiversity sanctuary that supports one of only three known Tapanuli orangutan populations.

The Batang Toru region serves as a vital refuge not only for Tapanuli orangutans but also for other endangered species including Sumatran tigers and Malayan tapirs. Scientists fear that significant portions of this irreplaceable habitat may have collapsed during the flooding, potentially carrying multiple orangutans to their deaths. With such a small global population, the loss of even a few individuals represents a significant blow to the species’ survival prospects.

The Tapanuli orangutan was only scientifically identified in 2017, making it the eighth known great ape species and immediately the most endangered. This latest disaster underscores the extreme vulnerability of Indonesia’s remaining great ape populations to both climate-driven extreme weather events and ongoing habitat destruction.